1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for providing a service relevant to image forming to a user.
2. Description of the Related Art
A document management system that manages various documents controls availability of use permission of a document by giving information that specifies an access right per document, which is generally called as an access control list (ACL). Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-99736 proposes a technology for achieving a document management device that can reduce a load of renewal processing on an ACL that is required to be performed whenever there is a change in an organization, and can efficiently cope with the change in the organization.
On the other hand, a multi-function peripheral (MFP) that includes a plurality of functions, such as a photocopy function, a printer function, and a scanner function, can control availability of use permission per user with respect to each function or each of function details divided from each function. For example, the function details of the photocopy function can be full color, automatic color, bicolor, monocolor, and black-and-white. For example, the function details of the printer function can be color and black-and-white.
Specifically, such an MFP manages use restriction information that indicates availability of use permission per user with respect to each function, and can limit functions that a user can use in accordance with the use restriction information. Some MFPs have been configured to control such use restriction information with an external server, such as a lightweight directory access control (LDAP) server, to access the LDAP server every time when a user logs in the MFP, and to acquire use restriction information about the user who longs in.
An MFP that uses an LDAP server stores a user identification (ID) and a password, which are input by a user, into an authentication module of the MFP. That user ID and password are then used for both authentication processing using an external authentication server, and acquisition processing of use restriction information by accessing the LDAP server. Accordingly, each user can access both the authentication server and the LDAP server by inputting the user ID and the password only once, and can use functions of the MFP.
However, in the configuration that the authentication processing and acquisition processing of use restriction information are executed with the external authentication server and the external LDAP server, the processing may be repeatedly executed depending on a function used in the MFP.
When a function is requested from a client personal computer (PC), for example, in a case of the printer function, to begin with, it is assumed that a user has been already authenticated by an authentication server based on a user ID and a password input by the user when logging in the client PC. As the authenticated user specifies printing of a document, an execution of the printer function is then requested to the MFP.
However, when the execution of the printer function is requested from the client PC, the MFP again executes authentication of the user by the authentication server by using the user ID and the password that are transmitted with data to be printed. In other words, there is a possibility that the authentication processing at the log-in to the client PC, and the authentication processing at the request of a function of the MFP from the client PC are repeatedly executed.
However, a function among functions of an MFP that a user requests by directly operating an operation panel of the MFP, such as the photocopy function, the scanner function, or a facsimile function, does not have such problem.